


lean on me

by YourFavLocalMeme



Category: Julie and the Phantoms, jatp - Fandom
Genre: Bi!Reggie, F/F, Gen, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, mention of divorce, mention of parents fighting, mention of smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27441622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourFavLocalMeme/pseuds/YourFavLocalMeme
Summary: a short one-shot about reggie’s sister.
Relationships: Luke Patterson/Reggie, Luke/Reggie, OC/OC
Comments: 2
Kudos: 50





	lean on me

**Author's Note:**

> tw // mention of smoking, death, divorce  
> the song is lean on me by bill withers

When Reggie found out his mom was pregnant, he was ecstatic. He would tell everyone he had a little brother on the way, bragging that he would be the best older brother ever.

When he found out a little sister was on her way, he immediately shifted gears. He would help his mom pick out baby clothes, helping to decorate the crib. He was only 3 years old, but he was excited to have a little sibling in the world.

When Ellie was born, Reggie was the one who came up with the nickname.

“Ellie,” he’d said, a nickname for Ellen. Reggie’s mom had agreed and it’d stuck.

He’d call her that growing up, often screaming, “Mom, Ellie’s being mean to me.” Of course, she was just teasing, that’s what they did.

They were joint at the hip as kids. Everywhere Ellie went, Reggie went. Ellie would hang out with Reggie’s cool older friends, Bobby, Alex, and Luke. Reggie would hang out with Ellie’s friends and let them paint his nails and do his makeup at sleepovers. The siblings would hang out in a little tent and look at the stars on summer nights.

Ellie got the top bunk and Reggie got the bottom. They would giggle into the night, their parents often yelling at them that they needed to be quiet. Reggie was always the first to know Ellie’s secrets and vice versa. When one of them stole candy from the candy jar, the other would take the blame.

Of course, they had their fights. When Ellie became close with a girl from her school who would whisper in Ellie’s ear and giggle rudely, Reggie complained that he didn’t like her friend. She’d shouted at him and said that he didn’t get to decide who she was friends with. When Reggie started hanging out with Luke, Alex, and Bobby more than Ellie, she’d gotten upset and hadn’t talked to the four boys for a week. She’d said that she was his sister and should be his priority.

When “Sunset Curve” became a band, Ellie went to every rehearsal. She would brag to all her friends that her brother was in a really cool rock band and that they should “tell their friends.” Reggie would pretend he was embarrassed, but it made him happy that his little sister thought he was cool. Luke, Alex, and Bobby thought Ellie was adorable and said they needed to make her an addition to their band. She didn’t play bass, but she loved hanging out with the guys and could always make them laugh. She had no limit of embarrassing Reggie stories.

When their parents started fighting, Reggie would take her for walks to get them out of the house. He would tell her jokes and make her laugh, something he’d always been good at. They’d go to a convenience store and get candy and sneak it in to a movie, or they’d go hang out outside the Orpheum while Reggie would rave about how “Sunset Curve” would play there one day. The second he learned to drive, he would drive them around at night, listening to Ellie rave about the person she liked or the mean girl at school or her English test.

When she came home crying one day, she told him her friend’s parents were getting divorced. She’d asked him if their parents were going to get divorced, and he told her probably.

When Reggie came out to her as bi at 15, she came out to him too. She’d said she liked a girl at her school, but she liked guys too. She also instantly knew he liked Luke. She told him that she thought Luke liked him back, and that she would definitely get them together. He’d then said that she had to get together with the girl she liked, to which she’d sighed and said the girl was straight. From them on, they always joked that both of them cuffed their jeans.

When Ellie got her first boyfriend, Reggie flipped out. He’d always been a protective brother, and when his 14 year old sister came home with a boy who looked like he didn’t shower and smoked cigarettes, he’d been upset. Ellie had screamed at him, saying she loved him, but he had argued that he was a bad influence on her. The boyfriend had cheated on Ellie two weeks later. She’d cried, and Reggie had held her, comforting her.

The night that “Sunset Curve” played the Orpheum, Ellie was there, hugging Reggie and crying before the show.

“I’m so proud of you. I love you,” she said. She didn’t know that those were the last words she would ever say to her older brother.

“I love you too.” 

She watched as they played the sound check and found herself getting emotional. After everything “Sunset Curve” had been through, they were here. 

When they left to go get streetdogs, Ellie refused. She’d always thought their taste in food was gross.

When she heard the sirens, she got worried, but she told herself it couldn’t be them. When she got the call from her mom, she broke down on the floor crying. 

The fighting got worse after Reggie died. Ellie wouldn’t leave her room, trying to remember the jokes Reggie had told her when their parents had fought. She wore her “Sunset Curve” shirt everyday because it reminded her of him. Sometimes she talked to the cute girl she was best friends with who wasn’t straight. Every so often she’d go visit the garage where they’d practiced. She would look at the untouched instruments and feel emotional. Eventually, a family moved in, and she stopped going back. 

By the time the funeral happened, their parents were fighting all the time. They didn’t even want to go and Ellie never saw them cry. Meanwhile, she cried at everything. When she saw people with black hair or bass guitars, she’d start sobbing hysterically. She couldn’t bring herself to go through his stuff, couldn’t look at the sweatshirt Luke had given him that he’d cherished like it was a part of him. She tried to listen to “Sunset Curve” sometimes, but it just made her sad. She missed him so much. It felt like a part of her had been ripped away. 

Their parents didn’t speak at the funeral. Ellie read the lyrics of “Now Or Never” and talked about the time Reggie had let her and her friends do his makeup at a sleepover. She broke down. When they buried him, she put the Sunset Curve demo in the grave. 

“I miss you, Reg. The world isn’t as great without you,” she said.

Their parents got divorced soon after Reggie died. Ellie stayed with her mom, but moved in with her girlfriend a few months later. It turned out the girl she’d liked in middle school wasn’t straight. After that, their mom got evicted and came and lived with Ellie.

Ellie never quite got over Reggie’s death, but it started hurting less. She became closer friends with Bobby, but stopped talking to him when he took credit for the boys’ music. She’d tried to tell everyone that Bobby was a fraud, but was overlooked as a mourning sister. Eventually, she went to college in New York. She stayed with her girlfriend and did well in school. She thought about Reggie every day, but it stopped hurting as much. She knew he would’ve loved New York, the bustle and the stadiums where rock bands played.

When Ellie turned 30 years old, she gathered with her wife and kids, one lovingly named Reggie and the other named Alex, and she could almost swear she felt her brother with her.

At the age of 39, she watched a video on YouTube of a girl named Julie Molina with a band, and she instantly recognized the boys. It didn’t make sense. She googled Julie and saw that the band was known as a hologram band. Maybe she just used images of the boys... Regardless, Ellie sent the girl an email, and a few weeks later, she bought plane tickets back to California. 

When she arrived at the garage of Julie Molina where she had seen the boy who looked like her dead brother, she felt shivers run up her spine. This had been where the boys had practiced, where she’d practically grown up. She’d gone through her crush on Bobby here, then cried when he rejected her on the sofa. Reggie had pined over Luke for years here. 

A girl with brown hair and chocolate eyes appeared at the door, looking slightly surprised.

“Hey, I’m Ellie Ivanov. I emailed you that I was coming.”

“Oh yeah, you’re Reggie’s sister.”

“So you know him?”

“Yeah, I know Reggie. Here...it’s a long story.”

Ellie came in and smiled at Julie, sitting down.

After Julie had explained everything, Ellie was in tears.

“You know, I think I always knew he wasn’t gone. It hurt so much, but I had to tell myself he was still with me...” Ellie said.

“Were you two close?”

“Oh, we were joint at the hip. We would get into so much trouble with our parents, when their relationship... Ah, it doesn’t matter.” She laughed.

“That’s sweet. You’re so similar to him.”

“Yeah, but I’m the better Ivanov,” she joked.

“Do you want to see him?”

“Oh, I don’t know what I would say...”

Soon, Julie started melodically singing, playing the piano, a song Ellie had always associated with Reggie. “Sometimes in our lives we all have pain, we all have sorrow, but if we are wise, we know that there’s always tomorrow.”

Soon, the boys appeared, singing. Ellie felt her cheeks get wet. “Lean on me, when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on, for it won’t be long till I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.”

Reggie started singing. “Please swallow your pride, if I have things you need to borrow, for no one can fill those of your needs, that you won’t let show.” Alex started drumming. “You just call me brother, when you need a hand. We all need somebody to lean on. I just might have a problem that you’ll understand. We all need somebody to lean on.”

She got up, joining in on the song she’d listened to nearly daily since Reggie’s death. “Lean on me, when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend. I’ll help you carry on for it won’t be long till I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.”

Luke smiled at her, playing the guitar. “You just call me brother, when you need a hand. We all need somebody to lean on. I just might have a problem that you’ll understand, we all need somebody to lean on.”

Alex started singing. “If there is a load you have to bear that you can’t carry I’m right up the road, I’ll share your load.”

Reggie closed his eyes. “If you just call me (call me). If you need a friend (call me) call me uh huh (call me) if you need a friend (call me). If you ever need a friend (call me). Call me (call me) call me (call me) call me.  
(Call me) call me (call me) if you need a friend. (Call me) call me (call me) call me (call me) call me (call me) call me (call me).”

He disappeared, and Ellie had been expecting it but she felt her heart break.

“I love you, Reg, always,” she whispered.

“He says he loves you too,” Julie said.

Ellie talked to Reggie and the guys through Julie, learning what they’d been through. Finally, she had closure with her brother. When she left, she knew a part of Reggie would always be with her.


End file.
